Cabinet ironing-board.



VAN s.' Hls. SAMU momma BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3I. i911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Y (lum/wint :.lv. lVAN S.. HIBBS.

C ABINETLRONINQ BOARD. APmlcA'loa, man Aue. 3l, 19u,

Patentedee. 10, l.

n2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f 7 unison erases reruns -tion with the two boards touristes.

.Tai/ins VAN senr HIBBS, or PORTLAND, OREGON.

mensili.

r u uit www t muy concern.'

Be-it known that i, JAMES VAN SANT Hines, a citizen of the United States, resid1 ingr at Portland, in the county of Multnoniah and State of Oregon, have' invented eer tain new and useful Improvements in Cabinet` ironing-Boards; and l" do declare the following to be aA full, clear, and exact description ot thel invention, such as will en able others skilled in the art to which Iit appcrtains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to improvements in ironing boards, and more particularly to those which are adapted to fold into a. conipact space when not in use, so as to be entirely out of the Way.

In attaining the desired end l employ a cabinet which is preferably built inV one Wall of the building, the board or boards being mounted foldably in said cabinet, one ob ject of the invention, being to provide novel means for holding the boards in position, when extended for use, yet for permitting easy folding thereof when required.

A further object is to provide a board which is substantially balanced by Weights so that after it is released, it may be folded by the touch of a finger, and similarly may be lowered with no eifort Whatever, this being a highly desirablev feature since the housewife is caused no exertion. Whatever.

Another object is to construct the device in a highly eicient, yet in an inexpensive manner, and to so design the cabinet as to give the sanzethe appearance of vone of the Several doors of the room in which it located. f

lilith lthe foregoing general smeris in vieW the invention resides in the novei fean tures of construction and unique combinations of parts to be hereinafter fully described and claimed, the descriptive matter being supplemented by the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which: i

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the invention built in the wall of a room, both boards being lowered for use;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section -of theinvenprojiected for use as in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the two boards folded in the cabinet;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. iii, i915.

Application filed August 31, 1917. Serial No. 189,161.

Fig. i a. horizontal section on the plane of the line 4 il of liig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one corner of the main ironing board and the relatively4 fixed parts coacting therewith; and

Fig. -t is a- View similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating the. sleeve board and its coacting parts.

in the drawings above briefly described., a cabinet 'is shown built in one wall of a building, althmigh this construction need not be followed in all cases, since the cabinet could Well be` totally independent of the building and secured to the vallthereof in any preferred manner. lt is highly desirable, however, to construct the cabinet when building the house so that the former may be positioned out of the Way by building itin the Wall. The cabinet l includes a pair of vertical side bars 2 which may Well be tivo of the studs of the building, if the latter be a frame structure, said bars having vertical grooves or runways along their inner Sider, the lower ends of said runways being preferably curved rearwardly as indicated at 4l, for a purpose to be described.

main ironing board 5 is normally/'positioned vertically in the cabinet l as shown clearly in Fig. 3, the rear end of said board, at the edges thereof, having iateally tending Wedge shaped blocks -t from which headed studs 7 or other appropriate shoes extend lateraliy. said shoes being receiver. loosely in the runways Filliou the board 5 is iowered to horizontal position, the shoes 7 travel downwardly in the runways 3 'and the rearwardly curved lower ends ai of the latter, force the board rearwardly until the -i'ear end thereofcontacts with the rear side 8 of the cabinet l. fhen the device is built in the Wall of a huildin, the rear side 8 of the cabinet may be forined by the sheathingl of the house, but when the device is built independently of the house, the wall 8 `vili be suitably secured to the side bars 2 of the cabinet.

U shaped 4seat members 9 are secured to the inner sides of the bars at the lower ends of the runways 3. the opposite sides of ,said seat members converging downwardly so that the Wedge members o niay ne snugly received therein to hold the board rigidly in operative position, the contact of said board with the rear side or 'ff-Fall F1 ot' the cabinet. also assistingy in imparting the necessary rigidity to the device. Although the board is held lixedly in operative position, it is a .simple matterto again raise said board -or fold, the same to inoperative position, since after the wedge members G are once freed t'rom the Vseat members 9, the shoes 7 will slide freely in the runways 3. Easy operation of the device is also caused by balancing weights 10, cables l1 being connected at one end to `said weights and at their other ends to the necks oi the headed studs or shoesi, Said cables extending` over suitable pulleys or the like 1Q at the upper end oi the cabinet and beine" received in the, runways or grooves 3.

livoted at its upper end to the under side y of the board 5, between the ends oit' the lat-V ter, is an inclinedbrace '1f-l whose lower end is pivoted at ll in the lower end oi' thel cabinet 1 said brace folding' upwardly as shown in Fig'. 3, when the board is tolded. lt is to be observed that this brace is pivoted permaneijitly at both ot its ends. so that it is always in the proper rehlltion with the parts with which it cooperates. This is a highly essential feature `ot' the invention, since it. does away with the necessityy of fastening .means such as those commonly used on ironing' board braces` and thus decreases the trouble ot setting the device" tor operation.

For preventing the real; endv ot' the, board 5 iron'. movingv ui'iwardlyi, when downward pressure is" exerted on the," Alront end of said board, a suitable spriiigypr 'seed latch 15 is provided, said latch being- 1 eter-ably mounted on the upper side ot th [board as shown. Since it is necessary t( iove the rear end of the board 5', upwardlyLatter releasingr the latch l5, in order that' said board may Jfold as inti'aided,aiul since Vthe latch must be released before this folding,r can take place, l preferably provide a finger ringlt whereby the latch may be released and immediately thereafter, an upward Apull exerted on the rear end'ot' the board. This detail of construction renders the device extremely easy to operate as will be apparent. rl`he latch 15 may be of such construction as to cause it to automatically' spring into place when the board is lowered.

Preferably employed in connection with the Jfeatures of construction above described, is a sleeve board 5', the rear end of said Vboard having outwardly extending wedge members 6 which are equipped with studs or `shoes 7, the latter beinp; received in ver-` tical runways 3 which are formed along.;1

the inner sides ot a pair ot vertical bars 2" lways o prevent upward movement of the rear end ot' said sleeve board, a suitable cleat 15' is.

provided. said rear end of the board underlying said cleat when lowered.

Normally, when the device is not in use, the door of the cabinet. remains closed, both boards being then folded as shown-in Fig. 3. lVhen the use of the boards isrequired, however, the door is opened and by pulling outwardly on the lower end of the board 5, the upper end thcreot' will be lowered, the shoes 7 then sliding downwardly in the runwhose lower ends lfm-ce the board rearwardly until it contacts with the rear side 8 ot' the cabinet; This assists in holding.;l the board rigidly in operative position, but the coaction of the wedge members 6 and seat members 9,when locked in engage.- ment by the latch 15, imparts even greater rigidity to the entire. device. Whenever its use is necessary the sleeve board 5' may be lowered as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and held in operative position by the cleat la'bove described. y i

lt is to be noted that the supporting leg 13 otl the sleeve board 5 rests on the man1 board 5. By this arrangement, the upward movement of the rear end of said main board will rock the sleeve board upwardly and rearwardlv around the studs ,7" so that the parts stand su'bstantial-ly as seen in Fig. 3, When completely folded', the sleeve board 5 resting against the main board 5. It will thus be. obvious that when the board 5 4is lowered, the sleeve board 5 will lower itself to operative position.

lt" the use of the sleeve board is not necessary it may be swung' upwardly between thebars. 2. but since there is. danger .of the board dropping when so positioned,- this will seldom be done unless suitable means be provided for preventing such dropping On the other hand, the 4sleeve yboard will in most cases'be swung upwardly to a sufficient, extent to permit its rea-r end to clear the cleat 15 whereupon said board will be shifted bodily upwa-rd until it may again be swung' downwardly without engaging the cleat. This downward swinging, 'having been done` the rear end of the sleeve board is moved upwardly so that said board may rest vertically on a ledge. ort-he like'l, beneath 'the cleat 15. In this position, there is no danger o the sleeve board dropping accidentally,

From the foregoing, taken in lconnection with the drawings, itwill be obvious that although the inii'ention isfof'sim le andl inexpensiveconstrnctionpitwill be* highly efiieient, durable, and easy to operate. Since probably 'the best results are obtained from the specific construction shown and described, vsuch construction constitutes the preferred forni ofthe device. I wish it un' derstood, however, that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made without sacrificing; the. principal advantages.

l. The combination ot" a pair oi fixed horizontally spaced up vardly facingseats, an ironing hoard normally disposed vertically with its upper end above said seats, said board having on said upper end a pair ot fixed wedges for wedging engagement with said seats when the hoard is positioned horizontally for use and when forced downwardly by ironing thereon. iixed vertical tracks, shoes engaging said tracks and connected lo said hoard for guiding Said wedges into said seats as the rear end ot the board is lowered for use, and a support for the free end of said hoard when lowered.

2. A structure as speriliedin claim l, said tracks having longitudinal grooves, said wedges being carried by the edges ojl' said hoard, and said shoes being in the torni ot" studs extending laterally from said wedges and received slidably and rotatably in said grooves,

3. A device of the class described com prising a pair of parallel vertical bars having vertical runways along their inner sides and curving' toward the rear edges of'said hars at their lower ends,'an ironing board normally positioned vertically between said bars and having shoes at its upper end slidable downwardly in said runways when said board is moved to horizontal position, said shoes and the curved ends of said runways then forcing the board rearwardly, and a fixed wall against which the rear end of said hoard is thus forced to rigidly hold the saine in operative position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES VAN SANT HIBBS.

Witnesses E, A. JOHNSON, ALBERT B. RIDGWAY. 

